Aquastride Equine Water Treadmill

30/05/2024

Such an interesting view of the horses back you don't always get to appreciate (unless you work on a treadmill 🤣).
In walk, all planes of motion are utilised in the spine and you can see the clear difference between the gaits in this video.

22/04/2024

A bit of a change of scenery this week!!

We are closed until Tuesday 30th as we are out in 🇺🇸 supporting Betty and Kirsty in the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event 🍀🐎

Any phone messages will be replied to on Monday 29th. Or if you need to get in contact before then, please send a FB message or email to [email protected] and we'll reply as quickly as possible!

30/03/2024

Unfortunately, Daisy didn't share! 🍫🥚 🤣

Happy Easter 🐣 🌼

18/03/2024

🥰We can't wait to see how Zara and Cassidy get on when they are finally able to get back on the race track!

29/02/2024

This lovely little lady is 6 weeks into her treadmill sessions and has taken to it like a pro 🤩🐴💧
Especially enjoying her indoor work out today!☔️

11/02/2024

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday welcoming members of the Mid South EGB for a talk and demo. Some great discussion, questions and cake! 💧🐴☕️🍰

20/01/2024

This lovely chap is into his 8th week of treadmilling as part of his rehabilitation plan.
In his recent vet assessment, his vet was very pleased with his improved straightness of movement and increase in topline muscle mass. He has now been signed off to take the next step in his ridden work 🎉🤩

09/01/2024

💧Part 3 of our Working with Water series.💧

Our previous post touched on movement and this is influenced by water height and speed.
Both water height and speed are manually controlled by the operator and tailored to each horse (making it quite important who operates the treadmill).

🏊‍♀️Water height:

🐴Greco-Otto et al. (2017) concluded that water height had greater effect on exercise intensity compared to speed.

🐴Comparatively to walking on a dry treadmill, the introduction of water has seen an increase in distal limb joint ROM (Mendez-Angulo et al., 2013), increased pelvic axial rotation (Mooij et al., 2013) and increased total range of back flexion-extension and lumbar flexion (Nankervis et al., 2016). The common trend is as water depth increases, stride length increases and stride frequency decreases.

🐴A survey by Tranquille et al., (2018) noted higher water heights are commonly seen within training and conditioning and lower heights within rehabilitation. However, individual horses ability to flex proximal joints or the lumbopelvic region, which may be due to pathology, conformation or soft tissue restriction, will affect how they respond to different water heights.

Therefore, protocols need to be designed based on the individual horse.

🏃‍♀️🏃Speed:

🐴Current research and practice have many variations on the preferred/optimum speed used whilst walking on the treadmill at varying depths of water.

🐴For a horse to walk at a comfortable pace on the UWTM, the addition of water can see speeds up to 50% slower than walking on land/dry (King, 2016).

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

02/01/2024

Happy New Year Everyone! 🥳

If there have been a few too many carrots 🥕 over the festive period, then why not kickstart 2024 with our January offer.

The block of 3 sessions will have 10% off for January.

For more information or to book, please get in contact with us.

T&Cs
-Sessions to be used by 29th Feb 2024.
-Usual cancellation and refund policy applies.

13/12/2023

💧Welcome to part 2 of our working with water posts. After introducing the properties of water, we are now turning our attention to movement. This will inevitably change with the introduction of water. 💧

🐴Kinematics (otherwise known as movement characteristics) are influenced by the presence of water and the water depth. Resulting in an increase in flight arc, an increased stride length and reduced stride frequency, whilst resistance allows for increased workload with less concussive force (Greco-Otto et al., 2019).

🐴Equine kinematics on the under water treadmill (UWTM) can be likened to those observed when performing an exercise over poles or cavalettis; increased joint ROM, increased back flexion and more stretch through the neck, all aiding in improving muscular strength and suppleness, hindlimb engagement and impulsion (Castejon-Riber et al., 2017; Shaw et al., 2021). Whilst the UWTM additionally provides the added benefit of resistance training through working in water and more adjustability on kinematic effects through varying water depths.

🐴Biomechanical changes are particularly relevant when designing and implementing a rehabilitation programme, particularly as one single programme will not suit all horses, hence protocols need to be based on assessment and outcome of the individual horse (Tranquille et al., 2017).

🐴Working in walk is a fundamental part of any rehabilitation or conditioning process. It encourages more even utilisation of all limbs due to being 4 beat gait.
Full spinal mobility is observed at walk with all three planes of movement utilised (flexion-extension, lateral flexion and axial rotation).

Stay tuned for the next instalment......

If you have any questions for us, please do not hesitate to send us a message 😊


FMBs Therapy Systems

05/12/2023

A massive thank you to all the vets who braved the cold for a talk and demo on the treadmill (oh, and some mulled wine 😆).
We were privileged to be joined by vets from 7 different local practices!
We hope you all found the evening useful.



FMBs Therapy Systems

14/11/2023

💧Hydrotherapy or water-based exercise is effective at improving joint range of motion, encouraging normal motor patterns, increasing muscle activation and reducing secondary musculoskeletal compensations due to primary joint pathology (King et al., 2013) 💧

🐴Controlled, straight-line, non-weight bearing walking on the treadmill is particularly favourable for rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries and can be combined with the therapeutic benefits of water such as hydrostatic pressure, resistance, buoyancy and submersion of the distal limb in cold water.

🌟Buoyancy......

-Due to the upward thrust from the water, ground reaction force is reduced as water level increases (Tranquille et al., 2022).

-On the UTWM, compared to swimming and floatation tanks, horses remain in contact with the belt (Nankervis et al., 2017).

-Greco-Otto et al. (2019) found peak limb acceleration was lower with any water height in comparison to dry, suggesting that whilst the horse may not be fully buoyant, there is some reduction in concussive force even with a small amount of water.

🌟Hydrostatic Pressure.....

-Immersion in water applies circumferential compression aiding in venous return and lymphatic drainage, promoting better circulation.

-Thus, causing a reduction in joint effusion and soft tissue swelling, improving synaptic feedback from the joint mechanoreceptors to aid neuromuscular control.

-All of which helps with optimal joint motion, decreases pain and improves athletic ability (King et al., 2013).

🌟Cold water....

-As a horse’s distal limb from the carpus (knee) and tarsus (hock) down comprises primarily of tendon and ligament, the most therapeutic benefit comes from cold water.

-Cold water is also useful for reducing oedema (swelling) and inflammation (think of all the times you have stood cold hosing!).

Resistance..... we'll address this one in a future post as it relates to biomechanics. Stay tuned! 😁

FMBs Therapy Systems

02/11/2023

With the light fading and the weather worsening, we thought it would be useful to share a series of posts on why working with water is beneficial to your horse and their exercise programme.
(with the added bonus of staying dry whilst doing it! 😆)

Whilst we hope to answer a few common questions within our posts, if there are any particular questions you would like answering then please send us a direct message and we'll try to make sure these are included!


FMBs Therapy Systems

07/09/2023

💧🐴Water Treadmill Livery🐴💧

We have some availability for livery to utilise the use of the water treadmill.

Previous clients have used us for:
🐴 Rehabilitation
🐴 as part of Training/fitness
🐴 holiday livery to maintain workload
🐴 introducing work again
🐴 helping young horses gradually build some musculoskeletal strength
🐴 generalised improvement in balance, straightness and strength

We are based at Landford Commen Stud on the edge of the beautiful New Forest, home to 5* event rider, Kirsty Chabert.
All staff are experienced in handling and caring for a wide range of horses.
Our treadmill is run by a veterinary physiotherapist.

Our facilities on site include:
👉 Horse walker
👉 Lunge pen
👉 20x60m outdoor arena
👉 small pen turnout
👉 Theraplate

All packages are individually tailored to you and your horses needs.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
📱 07776956688
📧 [email protected]

Team Opposition
FMBs Therapy Systems

05/09/2023

This is one of our more recent cases 💧🐴

He was diagnosed with kissing spine and underwent surgery. The treadmill has been both part of his prehab and rehab.
His owner put in great effort pre-surgery to ensure he was going into it in the best condition and as strong as possible. Because, as we all know, muscle is quick to disappear and takes a long time to regain.
The first picture was 4 weeks post-op and 3 weeks into hand walking. He then started back up on the treadmill once a week as part of his rehabilitation programme and continues to do so.
The second picture was approximately 11 weeks post-op and you can see the improvement in his overall muscle mass 💪. He continues to make great progress thanks to his owners dedication!


FMBs Therapy Systems

29/08/2023

Congratulations to Kirsty and Betty for another 4* win 🥇🤩 in Ireland 🇮🇪

Also, congratulations to supergroom SJ for picking up the grooms prize! 👏

Team Opposition

05/08/2023

Last few spaces left on what promises to be a great couple of days!

Something for the adults..... A great couple of days of training with some fun and games mixed in just for good measure 😁🥂

24/07/2023

Spend the school summer holidays wisely with some top class training for you and your horse/pony 🏇

04/07/2023

He may be a mear 17.2hh but the mighty Zeus has mastered touching his toes whilst walking and even having a drink!
Due to his size, he started using the treadmill as an unbroken 3yr to gain a little muscle strength and balance before introducing a rider. Now, as a 5yr, he loves going on and having a splash! 🐴💧
Team Opposition
FMBs Therapy Systems

04/07/2023

A great slow-mo showing how much spinal mobility horses have during walk! 🐴💧

05/05/2023

Gorgeous Daisy pointing her toes at Badminton Horse Trials today 😍

Kirsty Chabert (Team Opposition) and Opposition Loire

24/04/2023

It's nearly a year ago we were cheering Betty on out of the start box at Badminton. She's currently stateside 🇺🇸 at the moment preparing for Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event this week. We are wishing Betty and Kirsty lots of luck 🍀 and will be cheering again, albeit through a TV screen!

🔥 🐎🤞

18/04/2023

An early morning pre-nationals tread for the giants. Best of luck to Olivia Oakeley Dressage & Fitness , Otto 🧡 and Victor 🤎 this week! 🤞

04/04/2023

Treadmill livery available 💧🐴

From 10th April we have a box space available for Treadmill livery.

There are a range of options and packages available to be individually tailored to your needs.

Some of our previous liveries have been for:
💧Rehabilitation
💧Holiday exercise
💧Strengthening or bringing a horse back into work
💧Non-weight bearing work following saddle issues

We are based at the lovely Landford Common Stud on the edge of the New Forest and home to 5* event rider Kirsty Chabert (Team Opposition).
Facilities include school, lunge pen, walker, Theraplate, turnout pen, underwater treadmill and experienced, friendly staff.

If you would like more details or to discuss further, please send us a FB message or text/ call 07776956688 or email [email protected]